Monthly Archives: September 2013

‘Biometric Classroom’ Monitors Students’ Eye Movements And Conversations

"A report from Yahoo News Tuesday detailed a group of New York engineers who are developing a 'biometric classroom' monitoring program that will track students' every move. Sean Montgomery, co-founder and engineer for SensorStar Labs, says tracking students’ eye movements, conversations and smiles with 'EngageSense' cameras will help teachers improve classroom learning. Algorithms in the program will crunch the raw visual and audio data to give teachers detailed information on students’ actions. Teachers will then be advised on how to better engage students." Continue reading →

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Slave Dollars: State Guarantee Private Prisons 96% Occupancy

"If the governments don’t maintain the specified number of people behind bars, they have to pay penalties to the companies that operate private prisons. The state of Colorado paid $2 million to companies because the rate of crime and the number of convicts in the state fell by a third in the last 10 years. The profit driven prisons put pressure on law enforcement and prosecutors to try to charge and convict individuals of more serious crimes just to fill prison beds. It also encourages authorities to send prisoners to private penitentiaries rather than state facilities even if they are cheaper. The number of prisoners in private verses public prisons has increased by 1,664% over the last 19 years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSlave Dollars: State Guarantee Private Prisons 96% Occupancy

Woman sues for false arrest for complaint about officer’s trooper brother

"City police stand accused in a federal lawsuit of falsely arresting a local woman after she tried to lodge a complaint against an off-duty state trooper whose brother is a Saratoga Springs police officer. Alicia Garafalo claims her constitutional rights were violated by city police after she was arrested on the charges of second-degree harassment and second-degree obstructing governmental administration. She claims the police lodged the charges against her after she tried to file a complaint against Kenneth Ahigian, an off-duty trooper who engaged in a fracas with her friends inside and outside the City Tavern on Caroline Street nearly four years ago." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWoman sues for false arrest for complaint about officer’s trooper brother

Houston police chief suspended for one day for hitting pedestrian

"Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland has been suspended for one day without pay for accidentally striking a pedestrian earlier this month. The punishment was handed down by Mayor Annise Parker. McClelland said he would also take defensive driving. The chief was on his way to work on September 4th when he stopped at Clay and Travis in downtown Houston. 'I made a left turn on Clay, from Clay onto Travis. I had a green light and he had a green light to walk across the street. For whatever reason, I didn’t see him,' Chief McClelland explained the day of the accident. When the pedestrian stepped off the curb, the chief’s car struck him." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHouston police chief suspended for one day for hitting pedestrian

Michael Douglas slams U.S. prison system after Emmy win

"Backstage, Douglas elaborated: 'My son is in federal prison. He’s been a drug addict for a large part of his life. Part of the punishments — if you happen to have a slip, and this is for a prisoner who is nonviolent, as about a half-million of our drug-addicted prisoners are — he’s spent almost two years in solitary confinement. Right now I’ve been told that I can’t see him for two years. It’s been over a year now. And I’m questioning the system.' Continued Douglas: 'Obviously at first, I was certainly disappointed in my son. But I’ve reached a point now where I’m very disappointed with the system.' Cameron Douglas is currently serving a sentence of nearly 10 years for non-violent drug offenses." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichael Douglas slams U.S. prison system after Emmy win

Sheriff sentenced to 9 years in prison for jobs-for-cash scheme

"Former sheriff's office investigator Darrin DiBiasi, 45, was sentenced to 364 days in jail for passing on some $25,000 to Spicuzzo from people looking to get hired by the department. As part of a plea agreement, Spicuzzo, the once-powerful chairman of the Middlesex County Democratic party, pleaded guilty in June to taking $25,000 in cash bribes in exchange for promoting one of his own employees. That was a fraction of the $112,000 prosecutors from the state Attorney General’s office say Spicuzzo, 68, accepted from people seeking jobs or promotions in the sheriff’s office during his 30-year reign as one of Middlesex County’s top law enforcement officers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSheriff sentenced to 9 years in prison for jobs-for-cash scheme

Irvington police chief paid $115K while suspended

"Irvington Police Chief Michael Chase hasn’t worked a single day in the past nine months, but a series of legal fits and starts has allowed the town’s suspended top cop to take home roughly $115,000 so far this year, leading to a state investigation, officials said. Chase was suspended in December 2012 after an investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office accused him of quashing a probe into alleged misconduct by his police officer nephew and charged him with failing to properly supervise his department’s Internal Affairs Unit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIrvington police chief paid $115K while suspended

Putin was wrong: The exceptionalism of the United States is alive and real

"Exceptional can also mean exceptionally bad in some or all respects. And here I would like to enumerate a points on which I can easily affirm the concept of American exceptionalism: The United States enjoys the highest obesity rate among 28 major nations. This is due in large part because of the government sponsored carbohydrate bubble. The United States has killed thousands of people through unmanned drones; the ratio of innocent to terrorists is perhaps 50 to 1. The United States is running the biggest budget deficit and borrows over 40 cents for every dollar it spends. It must borrow more money to be able to claim that it is not a banana republic. [..]" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPutin was wrong: The exceptionalism of the United States is alive and real

Where Prisoners Are Guaranteed To Private Prisons

"Most quotas require at least 90 percent of the beds in a prison to be filled, according to a new report by the advocacy group In the Public Interest, and quotas were part of nearly two-thirds of the contracts the group analyzed. Prison companies use the profits to expand, effectively pulling the strings on state prison populations as lawmakers must incarcerate a certain number of people — or pay. The state of Arizona recently paid the prison company Management & Training Corp. $3 million for empty beds when a 97 percent quota wasn't met, reported HuffPost's Chris Kirkham. The U.S. leads the world in incarcerating its residents, with one in 100 adults behind bars." Continue reading →

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Vacant Private Prisons in Oklahoma May Re-Open

"CCA has posted job openings for various positions at the Watonga prison and a warden has been named, according to the CCA website. The prison, whose capacity is about 2,100, closed in 2010 after the state of Arizona ended its contract with the company. Meanwhile, in Hinton, Mayor Shelly Newton said representatives from Geo Group, which operates the Great Plains facility, have been holding job fairs in preparation for a new contract. The Great Plains prison, which has a capacity of 2,000 inmates, closed in 2010 after Arizona also ended its contract for that facility. Newton said re-opening the prison would greatly benefit Hinton’s economy. The city has about 2,000 residents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVacant Private Prisons in Oklahoma May Re-Open